[UPDATE] -- Valdosta, Ga. -- February 21, 2013 --

Around 8 in the morning on Valentine's day Officer Pam NeSmith was conducting business as usual at her office which happens to be the Lowndes County Jail. What happened next is any jail house employee's worst nightmare.

NeSmith said "I walked over to the mailbox to get the mail out of the box and that's when he come up behind me. And he hit me and I fell to the floor. And as I fell to the floor I hit the stool where they use the telephones for their visitation. And at that time that's when I just put my hands over my head to protect my head. And I remember him hitting me with something hard which was the handset for the telephone. And I remember him hitting me in my face, on my eye. But other then that I mean he just kept hitting me and then finally he quit."

Her accused attacker, Roy Smith, was already serving life for assault. He had been at the jail for a court hearing. Pam was rushed to the hospital where she had three staples put into her head.

There's about 600 inmates in this jail. At any given time 17 guards are responsible for those inmates. All it takes is a second for one of them to attack.

Two jail employees that were supposed to be watching the inmates weren't paying attention according to the sheriff's office.

Lowndes County Sheriff Chris Prine said "I took immediate action by dismissing the two officers that was responsible, that should have been responsible for the safety of the officer on the floor."

As for NeSmith, despite her injuries she's back on the job. She said "I'm not going no where. I done been here too long, I'm not giving up now."

Smith faces an additional charge of Battery on a Law Enforcement Officer which carries a maximum sentence of twenty years.
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By: Eames Yates
February 21, 2013

Lowndes County, GA - A female officer was viciously beaten by a male inmate on Valentines Day. The inmate, Roy Smith, was in the jail for a court appearance when he attacked Pam NeSmith.

She was taken to the South Georgia Medical Center and had three staples put into her head. Smith who was already serving a life sentence, no faces a new charge of battery on a law enforcement officer which carries a maximum 20 year sentence.

Stay tuned for Eyewitness News tonight for a look at the surveillance video and an interview with NeSmith.